The publication of a
book is often likened to childbirth. The long expectation, the laborious
process and the joy that comes with its final accomplishment can well explain
the comparison. And I am now more convinced of this because of my recent participation
in the work of compiling a commemorative book in celebration of Macau’s
Biblical Association’s 20th anniversary.
When I volunteered to
do the proofreading, my confidence came from my related experience as a member
of the editing committee for a youth magazine. My long experience of marking
compositions as a language teacher could also be helpful, I believed. And, most
importantly, I had great trust in the support from Sherry, my partner.
There was not much
difficulty in the work initially as the articles were mainly from experienced and
skilled writers. However, I gradually found my ability of intensive reading and
language awareness put to the test. I had to work with high concentration to ensure
linguistic accuracy, checking even such details as the correct Bible verses and
the correct use of punctuation marks. I read the edited article repeatedly
before sending it to my partner for further proofreading. She in turn sent it
back to me after the rechecking and remodifying. This way, the article was
passed between us six or seven times before the editing was finally confirmed.
During the process, either she or I would contact the original writer to have
the modifications identified. The writer might not approve the editing and we
then discussed and, together, we decided how well to improve the expressions in
question. I found this communication very helpful as it enabled us to clarify
misunderstanding and make the article serve its purpose better.
The work became more
pressing as the articles came one after another in the fortnight before the submission
deadline. There were moments when we had several articles in hand and we had to
race against time. However, we would not allow our work quality to be affected
as a result. In fact, we were so much concerned about the articles’ best
quality that we did reediting even after sending them to Patsy for compiling.
Consequently, we changed the file name from ‘the edited version’, to ‘the reedited
version’ and lastly to ‘the final version’. Indeed we owe Patsy an apology for
the great inconvenience thus caused.
What followed was the creation
of the page layouts. Meetings were held to discuss the necessary details. Lots
of ideas were suggested and Sandy, who was responsible for the overall visual design,
was obliged to make changes again and again. Even outside the meetings,
discussion went on via WhatsApp as opinion was divided regarding the orderly
presentation of the articles, the text fonts, the background colours and
others. Even on the night before the draft was ready to be sent for the
printing, there was still doubt about the name list of the committee members of
the Association. And of course, no less importance was attached to the book
cover design, for which Tim also went through a hectic time making changes
again and again before being granted the final approval. Obviously, the success
of the publication was everybody’s great concern.
Now that the ‘child’
is born, it is hoped that all the articles will be read with interest as everyone
of them is the writer’s sincere sharing of his/her pursuit of the goal of
promoting Bible reading. It is also hoped that the book will not be seen merely
as a propagandizing publication but will be treasured as a track record of the
enlightenment and blessings from God over all these years of the Association’s development.
